When it Counts
by Tensei Kano
Summary: Lillian's little brother has had his life dominated by shyness. But when he falls for a certain young botanist, can he bring himself to take on the challenge when it counts?


_**One-shot: When it counts**_

**Hey guys! I'm really getting into this theme of a guy chasing a girl in a one-shot, so I thought I'd make some more! Gah, serious story will come in time, this is just a way to vent my own experiences. Quite frankly, I know what I'm talking about when I write about these crushes, because I'm a guy who has one myself. I won't say anymore than that. But let's move on.**

**This one attracted me, because I have this odd thing for cute love, even though I'm a guy. Don't judge me!**

**Note: Shiro is basically younger Phillip with brown hair like Lillian's. **

**Let's get started!**

**8:30pm, Konohana, Revels farm**

Knock knock knock.

Lillian opened the door and smiled at the girl before her. "Reina! It's so nice to see you!"

Reina smiled back, wearing her normal turquoise dress as naturally as ever. As a botanist, she often came over, not only as friends, but to use specific crops and leaves Lillian grew. Not surprising, Lillian was almost as good as Nori, but was willing to keep a patch of ground open to grow crops that Reina wanted, unlike Nori who couldn't afford to.

Not tonight though. Tonight, they were here, not to discuss work, but to unwind as the best friends that they were.

"Hello, Lillian. It's good to see you too." With pleasantries exchanged, she continued step into the well-furnished cottage. It had come a long way from the empty, lifeless shack that it had been before Lillian had moved in last year.

Lillian was about 17, slightly older than Nori and Reina , who were 16, and Hiro, who was 15.

"Actually, Reina, we can't be too loud tonight," Lillian cautioned, serving coffee for them both, "my little brother just came today, and he's really tired. My parents wanted to move him here, since they couldn't take care of him back home, they had jobs to do and all that."

Reina raised an eyebrow in interest. "Tell me about him." Lillian smiled at her open curiosity. Within the last year, Reina had changed dramatically from being the cold, uncaring botanist to the warm, open friend, a part of the village, and a strong one, metaphorically, of course. She still maintained her interest in botany, but socialised with people throughout Konohana.

"Well, his name is Shiro, and he's... Actually a little shy for his age, he's 16, but he could be 13 and you wouldn't be able to tell from his personality. He can be the most adorable little brother sometimes because of that. But I think he'll get along fine with Konohana. After all, Hiro's pretty similar, isn't he?"

Reina considered it. "Yes, I suppose, but I hope Hiro doesn't introduce him to Kana. If he's as timid as you say he is, Kana will outright scare him."

Lillian frowned. Friends though they might be, Kana was known to be rough and sneaky. Not a good combination. But he could be amiable enough at times.

The conversation drifted away from Shiro, the boy in the other room. The boy in question stirred a little, then got up. For some reason that had nothing to do with noise, he couldn't sleep. By the sounds of it though, his sister had a guest over, so he quickly changed out of his pajamas to see who it was.

Outside, Reina was just finishing a tale of gossip, containing details of Hiro and his crush on Nori. Lillian suddenly turned and smiled, "Oh hey Shiro, sorry, did we wake you up?"

Shiro shook his head, and muttered about how he couldn't sleep. Lillian turned and pointed to Reina. "This is Reina, Shiro, she's a great friend of mine, and she studies botany. " Reina smiled at the boy and greeted him. Shiro stared at her, then returned her smile with a small one of his own. "Hello, Reina. Err..." Shiro trailed off, searching for something to say, but couldn't find anything and so resorted to giving a little wave.

Reina glanced at the clock and was surprised to find it much later than she expected. "Sorry Lillian, I think that's all I have time for, I have to get home on time or Uncle Mako will skin me alive." Reina winked at Lillian and walked swiftly out. Lillian chuckled at the joke and began to clear their coffee cups, but then spotted Shiro looking at the door.

"What's up Shiro?" Lillian asked, wondering if she had scared him with the skin-me-alive joke. What can next surprised her halfway to the moon.

"She had such a nice laugh... And she was really pretty..." Shiro said aloud, looking a little confused at himself.

Lillian gaped at her little brother. "So you like her?" Shiro blushed crimson and began to fiddle with his fingers. Lillian giggled a bit, then left the room, calling back at him, "Get to bed soon, right?"

At midnight, as Lillian snored softly, Shiro continued to fiddle with his fingers, thinking of the female botanist.

**9 am, Konohana**

Hiro finished watering the crops in front of the clinic with quick and relative familiarity. He was just about to go inside when he spotted the boy who was with Lillian yesterday, wandering about. There was no mistaking that face, he must have ben Lillian's little brother. He had taken on most of her facial features, apart from her light violet eyes, whereas this boy had deeper-than-sky blue eyes.

"Hello!" Hiro called to him. The boy's reaction was different from Lillian's first day in Konohana. Whereas Lillian waved and came over quickly, this boy seemed surprised to have been called out. He hesitantly made his way to the clinic doorway.

"You came to Konohana yesterday, am I right?" Hiro grinned. The boy nodded, giving a polite smile in return. "My name is Hiro, apprentice of Doctor Ayame. I'm glad we could meet. What's your name?"

Shiro cocked his head sideways, then shifted it back and replied in his light, very polite voice, which sounded as though it had not fully broken yet. "My name is Shiro, it's nice to meet you too, Hiro... You're right about me coming yesterday, I had to come here and live with my sister, Lillian. But I course, I can take care of myself." He added defensively.

"Oh no, I never thought that at all, you look very capable." Hiro reassured him quickly. Truth to be told though, the boy did not look as capable as he said he was, though who knew?

"Well if you want to get to know the place, I can guide you around." Hiro offered. Shiro looked up and smiled lightly.

"I'd like that," he accepted simply, "I was just getting lost when you called me." Unsure of whether that had been a joke or not, Hiro walked along side the boy and began touring him around Konohana.

"That's Kana's house. He runs the stables, but I think he may be busy today."

"That's the town hall, you can send mail, read their resources, and even borrow a room there for a night."

"That's Nori's house... She works for her grandfather for crops, and actually your sister's competition."

Hiro had come to a wooden bridge and glanced at a large cottage, a little larger than the average Konohanan hut.

"That's Mako's house. Reina lives there, she's very passionate about botany. Her uncle runs the fruit tree shop here.

Shiro's head perked up as he remembered the name. "Reina! I think I know her, she came over last night to talk to my sister..." Shiro performed his familiar habit of trailing off, unsure what to follow the statement with.

Hiro looked curious. "I don't mean to pry, but what could they have to talk about?"

Shiro screwed up his eyes and thought. "...I think they were talking about your crush on Nori..."

"Wh-What- How-..." Hiro spluttered into silence, then sighed. "I should have guessed Reina would have figured that out, what with her being so close to Nori, and really smart as well."

Shiro looked apologetic. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Hiro looked up, embarrassment being replaced with confusion. "What is there to apologize for? It wasn't your fault that Reina found out."

"Found out what?" The voice came from directly behind them.

The pair spun round to find Reina standing there with a look of mild amusement on her face.

"You don't need to be smart to figure it out, Hiro. Everyone in the village knows. Well, except for Nori herself."

Hiro was slowly turning redder and redder. "Was it that obvious?" he muttered, looking as though he wanted to die in a corner. He probably did.

Reina turned to Shiro with a slightly warmer smile. "Well, welcome to Konohana, Shiro. I hope you're good with crops, because that's this town's claim to fame. Good to meet you." She finished, holding her hand out to shake.

Shiro nervously shook her hand, a though he was shaking hands with a world-famous star. He tried to return her smile, but only managed a nervous twitch of his lips.

A loud barking noise startled the trio, causing Reina to turn just in time to see Kana's colossal dog running at Reina. She gasped and shut her eyes, waiting or the impact.

Shiro also saw the dog, and get his heart skip a beat as it rushed towards Reina, he acted without thinking.

A huge splash wet Reina and Hiro from the river. Reina opened her eyes, confused. She had expected to get a lot wetter than this...

"Shiro?!"

Shiro struggled to push Kana's dog off of him in the river, before the dog's weight could drown the boy.

Hiro rushed down to help, but Reina was half worried for the struggling boy, half amazed how he had managed to react so quickly. She didn't manage to do anything but shut her eyes, how had he...?

Kana came and apologized profusely for the trouble his dog had caused. Shiro, who was back on the bridge, but sitting down, was dripping wet, nodded weakly and made small motions that it was fine.

Hiro began to lecture Kana on how irresponsible that was, while Reina was left with Shiro.

"Hey, are you alright?" Reina asked hesitantly. Shiro looked at her, but did not reply, causing Reina to worry. Was he angry at her?

"I'm... I'm glad to see you're alright." Shiro expressed, flushing, yet looking her full in the face.

Reina cocked her head, a little unsure of herself, then nodded, and thanked the boy. She reached out her hand, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, get up, this bridge isn't the cleanest."

Shiro took her hand and got up, still smiling at her.

Overall, a very exciting morning for the pair.

**12:30 pm, Revels farm**

"Well, I guess you could say you made progress..." Lillian smiled, chuckling at the watered down version of Shiro's tale.

"It wasn't my fault, I saw the dog and I kind of... Moved, really fast, without thinking." He took a bite of his salad, chewing thoughtfully. "I'm glad I did though." he added.

It was afternoon, and Lillian had prepared lunch for the both of them. She found her little brother's morning tale quite amusing, to Shiro's embarrassment. Fair enough, it was all due to Kana's dog, but it was nonetheless what Lillian called "a smooth move".

"Well, at least now she knows you." Lillian added.

_She probably knows you like her too. _

Shiro sat quietly. He couldn't help but think of the modest, pretty young botanist that he had met only last night, yet already held such a place in his heart. What could he do though? He was terrible at anything musical... The only thing he could pride himself in his sketches, of which he stored in a little brown sketch pad in his. What could pencil sketches possibly do? Maybe she'd be impressed? Not likely...

"Shiro, could you help me take care of the flowers after lunch?" Lillian asked, interrupting Shiro's thoughts. "I need to take care of Bella." she explained, referring to her cow.

Shiro perked up considerably at this. He wasn't particularly good at taking care of plants, but he certainly enjoyed doing so.

Life would continue as normal, Lillian said to herself. Soon, Shiro would become one of the villagers, and would get settled in fine, shyness and all.

But little did she know that he would have a challenge to overcome before that was to happen.

**7:30pm, Konohana mountainside**

Shiro peered down at his sketch, then began to trace more lines and shades of the slender bamboo trees, spears reaching for the sky. He had managed to work in shades and lining so perfectly, the drawing seemed to capture the movement of the forest. Indeed, if one looked at it and kept staring, they would see the illusion the leaves rustling in the wind. It was difficult, trying to work in the hues of autumn leaves and not get them to clash too hard with the surrounding green bamboo, which did not turn colours, staying a vibrant green. In silence, Shiro continued to sketch out the pond.

The trick was to try and get the illusion of the sun setting into the pond... But how-

"Wow, that's pretty accurate..."

Shiro almost dropped his notebook into the pond in surprise. For the second time, Reina was standing right behind him, admiring his work. She realised that she had startled Shiro, and quickly apologised. "Sorry, I have a habit of turning up behind people." She turned back to his sketch. "Although your sketch couldn't be of use in terms of a diagram, this is really accurate, Shiro. I like it."

Shiro felt pride blossom in his chest. "Thank you. I made a few, if you... you know... want to look." He offered softly, holding out his sketchpad. She took it and opened it. They were predominantly city sketches in the light of a fading sunset. Despite every sketch being done by pencil, Reina rather thought the techniques used brought every scenario to life, without the use of colours. She couldn't help but notice that most of the drawings has heavily clouded dark skies, and asked him about it.

"Oh... the area I come from was really badly polluted... and I actually have a very sensitive lung problem, so I couldn't take the pollution, and my sis said that the air here was really good and all... so I moved here." Shiro seemed almost lost in thought as he remembered his terrible hacking cough that came to him so often in the city.

"So... you're like Ying?"

"Erm..." Shiro looked uncertain. "Sorry," He said finally. "I don't know anyone called Ying..."

"Oh of course, you moved in only yesterday..." Reina sat down beside the lake, still flipping through the pages. A chilly autumn wind blew through the area, but Shiro only felt the warmth of being able to hold a conversation without utterly failing.

"I love this place." Reina sighed, shutting the sketchpad. Shiro looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "The flora and fauna here is so diverse, it amazes me sometimes. I find specimens of plant that are supposedly only growing in very few specialized gardens all over the place. Take that flower over there." She pointed towards the batch of magic blue flowers, petals as brilliantly blue as ever. "That's supposed to only be grown somewhere in a remote area of Japan, but here it is, alive and well."

Shiro stared at the flowers he had been sketching only moments ago. They were certainly beautiful... and oddly comforting to see. "Did you come to live here because of that?" He asked.

"Pretty much. Uncle Mako told me he would be moving, and that the mountain's biodiversity would help me further my interests in the field of botany."

The evening went on that way, making small, meaningless yet comforting conversation, Reina complementing Shiro's degree of accuracy when he showed her the portion of the sketch containing the magic blue flower, Shiro doing the same for Reina's knowledge of botany in general.

It took then quite a while to notice that it was close to pitch black when they finished chatting.

"Oh goddess, is it that late?" Reina exclaimed. "Come on, let's go." They both got up, and Shiro put on the jacket he kept folded under his arm.

They climbed a hill leading to a bamboo forest, making sure that neither one list track of the other. But while they weren't losing track of each other, they did seen to have lost track of...

"The path." Reina whispered, a trace of fear slipped into her voice. "Where is the path back down to Konohana?"

Shiro turned around quickly, shocked. "I... I don't really know this place that well... I'm sorry..."

Reina spun around, searching for the dirt track back to safety, the lifeline. But of course, it was no where to be found.

"Dammit." Reina swore, real fear trickling into her tone. No path home, no light, no safety, they were at the mercy of the woods and any creatures lurking in it.

They were lost.

**11pm, Konohana forest**

"Reina, how about this... I can look for a way out, you stay here first... I can come back."

Reina looked up. "That's not a good idea. If you get post, then we're in real trouble."

"I think... Maybe... We don't have a lot of choice. I'll walk in one direction so that I only half to come back the same way... That way, we might find a way home."

Reina could see no way of stoping him. The truth was that she would be afraid, alone. Not that she'd ever admit it.

"Okay... But come back quick! Erm..." She cast around for an excuse, as Shiro looked at her questioningly. "... Just so I know you're alright."

Shiro smiled, invisible in he pitch black. "I'll... Be okay... I think." he said, trying not to betray the fear in his own voice. He had no idea what was in the forest, but he was willing to bet it wasn't pleasant.

Reina heard footsteps, and suddenly, he was gone. She shivered a bit, wishing she was home, in bed.

_Uncle Mako will kill me for sure..._

She heard another set of footsteps and Shiro's voice coming with it.

"Sorry, forgot to give you something." Reina looked up at his slightly moonlit figure just in time to see him crouch down beside her and wrap his jacket around her. "It's okay..." he whispered, causing Reina's skin to tingle slightly. "I don't get cold much... You can use it." With that, he withdrew and walked away again.

Reina has figured out in the morning his feelings for her. It was pretty obvious. But what she didn't expect was this slight longing to return those feelings. She started squirming. This wasn't exactly how she imagined a crush to be. After all, only a year ago, she was detached from people, more interested in talking to plants, which was sometimes comforting. Plants didn't argue, or whisper begin your back. But it seemed like she finally realised her own feelings.

Snap.

A twig broke behind her. She turned and looked fearfully at the sound. Nervously, she called. "Sh-Shiro? Is that you?" What came back was not a boy's light, fearful voice, but an animalistic grunt. Reina got up and backed away from the sound, unsure what it even was. She stepped back into a clearing of moonlight.

And then the beast came into sight.

7 feet tall, crawling towards her on four large paws, equipped with deadly claws that had no doubt felled many an animal. The bear growled at her, threateningly.

_Damn, I must have sat in its territory_!

The beast reared on its hind legs and advanced. Reina gazed in horror at its sheer mass, and screamed.

Shiro looked at the surrounding forest, looking for a sign of a dirt path. Maybe he'd passed it... He had better... Wait... That path... There it was! Right there, it was no vision of desperation, he'd found the path!

A single piercing scream.

Shiro's eyes widened with recognition of the voice. He ran back in terror, to the spot he'd left Reina in.

He gasped at the sight that met his eyes. Reina cornered, a horrific beast of a bear leering at her, about to attack.

Shiro froze with fear. He wanted to run and pretend he never saw anything, pretend it was all alright. But he couldn't ignore this. How was he to take on a beast of that size?

With a cry of pure horror of his own actions, he ran at the beast, who turned around, surprised at the newcomer's arrival.

Shiro barrelled into the bear's side, similar to the way he'd taken aside Kana's dog, but this time, with much more force.

The bear tumbled sideways, snarling. Shiro got up and looks for something, anything to defend himself with. He could only find a large branch of rotting wood and hope for the best. He positioned himself steadily, brain not functioning, working purely off the instinct to protect the one person he loved.

Rather than wait for the beast to charge, Shiro spun round to gather momentum, and flung his giant piece of rotten wood straight into the beasts face. It roared with pain, and tumbled backwards. Wasting no time, Shiro grabbed another hunk of wood and heaved it over his shoulder, bringing it down on the bear's head.

Crack! The bear's limbs relaxed as it blacked out. Shiro breathe in and out, deeply, as though he was about to cry. He had never been so fear-stricken in his life. His heart wa still beating a tattoo on the inside oh his chest. Had he really just taken on a seven foot bear... And won? The fear took over, and he began to cry.

Reina was still slumped against the tree, also crying in fear. Shiro walked back, tears still streaming down his face. "Are you... Alright-" But he had been winded yet again, by the force or Reina's hug. She sobbed into his shoulder, not managing to say any coherent words. They sat like that for a while, holding each other tight.

Eventually, Reina fell silent.

"Reina... We have to get out of here." Shiro choked. "I saw the path over there, we can..." But he didn't finish the sentence. Reina had fallen asleep with exhaustion.

Shiro looked at her, then decided not to wake her. He put an arm behind her knees and another on her back as lifted her, surprised to find how light she was.

And he walked home.

**Two days later, 11am, Gombe's garden**

Reina stood next to Nori, chatting to her.

"The story got out, Reina!" Nori giggled. "Shiro saved you, we all know!"

Reina rolled her eyes. "Well, he's spending a couple of days in trauma recovery, so he's not exactly a typical knight-in-shining-armour."

Nori smiled teasingly. "Knight-in-shining-armour, huh? Is that how you feel about him?"

Reina's cheeks reddened. "Well... I won't say no. He can be really clumsy, and really, really shy. But I think..." She thought about it, Nori looking at her expectantly. "...When he sets his mind to something, you can always depend in him at the vital moment, that moment where it really counts. I think I can be fine with him. And he can be really cute sometimes..." She trailed off, horrified at her last sentence.

Nori burst out laughing. "Wow, Reina, never thought I'd hear you say that about a guy!" Her laughter increased. "This is sooo going to be the next piece of gossip!"

And she ran before Reina could pulverise her.

**Wow, okay, that one felt a little odd, writing this one... I don't know why. Oh well. There we go! That was my take on a PhillipxReina fanfic request for ObsidianAquamarine! I just like to call her Obby though :D**

**Anyway, I hope you liked this one, guys! Feel free to request more, and review + rate if you want! Only if you want xD I'm not your dad, I'm not going to tell you what to do. Tensei out**!


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